June 14, 004 SDE; New Valoria Colony, 0200 hours:
Countryman settled into his seat stifling a yawn. After spending three days at high warp, they were now just seconds away from launching their assault on the New Valoria colony. A part of him wished they could wait for a more reasonable time, but with the tight timetables, they didn’t have the luxury of waiting till morning.
They’d tapped Valorian comms and so far the Valorians were unaware of their current position, with the Third Fleet having dispatched additional battlegroups to sweep the area for them. Based on known positions things had improved, but not by much. They would have barely nine hours before the Third Fleet could respond, but some smaller battlegroups were in position to intercept sooner.
Regardless they were on the clock, they needed to secure fuel before any of the smaller groups could respond and be out of the system before the main bulk of the fleet arrived. So here he was, at two in the fucking morning, getting ready for the attack and he wasn’t the only one.
His three generals were getting the forces ready for the ground landing. They’d identified their target, the port town of Golden Sands, the location was home to the largest deuterium refinery on the planet. Not only was it home to a massive refinery but there were also several warehouses and fuel silos in the area. If their intel was accurate, the third fleet maintains a local reserve of two hundred and fifty million liters of deuterium. More than enough to refuel the fleet. More importantly, Golden Sands was right by the sea which was going to make it easy for an aggressive deployment, one their Scorpions were designed for.
He set the thoughts aside, as Eri reported, “We are secure from warp sir. Reading multiple contacts, no sign we’ve been spotted.”
“That won’t last. Kaori, fire at will.”
She smiled, “Aye, sir!”
The launchers thrummed, picking out targets at rapid speed and sending thousands of warheads out into space, all set to dark mode. EM penetrators and sensor nets left in standby mode, the idea being they would go undetected as they sought out their targets. Activating only seconds before impact.
Every six seconds, the launchers spat out a burst of torpedoes which sailed out to their targets as per the plan, they were emptying the torpedo bays and targeting every warship, every orbital weapons platform, the main starbase, the planetary shield, the surface-to-space gun emplacements and the shipyard. The number of torpedoes allocated to each target varied based on priority, a list that Kaori had already been briefed on, so she didn’t need him to remind her. They’d gone over it just ten minutes before dropping out of warp.
Suddenly the launchers fell silent. “That’s it sir, all banks read empty, we are out of torpedoes.”
“ Coto and Umikaze both report magazines dry, as well, sir.”
“Acknowledged.” he turned to the helm, “Set course for the planet, one-quarter sublight.”
As the ship started moving he kept an eye on the screens. They were tracking thousands of torpedoes as they streamed toward the preset list of targets. The seconds ticked by, every moment felt tense and then the first warheads found their targets, multiple explosions lit up sensors. Ships and platforms were ripped apart in the same moment as several energy bursts erupted on the planet. Numerous warheads slammed into the station, and several large fireballs engulfed the shipyards.
“Multiple direct hits, perimeter alert is going out. Third Fleet responding, estimate three hours before the first battlegroup arrives.”
“Damage?”
“Planetary shield is out, the main starbase crippled, we have confirmed 662 cruisers as sunk or disabled. Heavy damage to their escort fleet with four thousand additional vessels confirmed sunk. All remaining vessels have taken heavy to moderate damage. Fourteen ships are now on an intercept course. The rest are regrouping at Third Fleet Headquarters.”
“Increase speed, full sublight, standby main cannons.”
“Main cannons, charged and ready sir.”
“Full sublight confirmed, planetary orbit in four minutes.”
“Status of Coto and Umikaze?”
“In formation, they both report combat ready.”
Countryman nodded and kept an eye on the screens as further reports came in. All fourteen ships moving to intercept had taken damage but were still combat-capable. The other vessels regrouping at the starbase were in far worse shape. As for the starbase, they’d hit it hard, multiple hull breaches, main shield grid out, primary defense batteries offline. It still had intact hangers however and was potentially still a threat. They were going to have to eliminate it and the vessels seeking harbor near it.
The first ship entered weapons range a moment later, her pulse cannons firing. The Coto was first to return fire, scoring several hits on the weakened shield grid.
“Hold fire, let the Coto and Umikaze deal with them. Focus on getting us into orbit.”
The faces nodded and Countryman watched the battle unfold. Fourteen ships against two may not have sounded like good odds, but it certainly didn’t look like it. Countryman watched the Umikaze and Coto make a concerted attack on the lead ship, its shields flared brightly as blue energy bolts bombarded it, then they buckled. Twin sustained beams ripped into the hull a moment later, something exploded and the ship was engulfed in a fireball.
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Another cruiser came about firing torpedoes, several slammed into the Coto, her energy webs blocking only half the barrage. The rest slammed into her weakened hull plates, scoring two hull breaches.
“Entering orbit sir, we’ll be in geostationary position over Golden Sands in thirteen seconds.”
“Alert General Forrest prepare for immediate landings.” he focused on Misaki, “initiate localized scans, identify any military sites in position to defend...”
“I’ve identified two bases and several defensive emplacements.”
“Relay coordinates to tactical. Kaori standby secondary cannons for tactical shore bombardment.”
“Ready, targets locked in.”
“Fire!”
A series of ventral turrets shifted, focusing on ground-side targets and then fired. Numerous medium-yield particle bolts fell like rain upon the targets with devastating impact.
“It seems we have their attention, twenty-four cruisers now on an intercept course.”
He blinked, it seemed they were sending everything they had left to deal with him. That suited him just fine. Countryman glanced at the indicators, reactor fuel was down to thirty percent and that was after a bolstering with their nearly depleted reserve. That was enough fuel to travel some eighty lightyears but it wouldn’t last anywhere near as long in a firefight. Battles could drain a lot of energy really quickly. “Noted, maintain position, standby main cannons.”
“Understood.”
“Bombardment complete, primary targets eliminated, secondary signatures still in the area.”
“We weren’t going to get them all, deploy ground forces.”
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Golden Sands, 0220 hours:
The figure poked out her head and looked around. It seemed the bombardment had stopped, then she heard a loud splash, followed by several more. Her gaze turned to the shore where alien behemoths were emerging from the water, even as several more crashed into the water.
They were huge metal constructs flat-bodied with a curved tail that hovered over the main structure and supported by six thick legs. Several turrets could also be seen on the structure. Several troops rushed to the beach, taking cover where they could to open fire. Even a Shielded Personnel Carrier moved to intercept, but their weapons did... nothing to the alien constructs, which returned fire with precise energy strikes. Blue bolts tore men and cover alike to bits.
As the first construct took the beach, she watched a turret fire on the SPC. The shields of the small vehicle flared brightly, and she returned fire with her pulse turret. For a moment it seemed like the one little vehicle might hold against the ten alien constructs in the water, then the shield buckled and the alien particle bolts ripped through the light hull of the SPC.
The young woman gasped and gripped her wrench tighter, even as she watched the first behemoth stop on the beach. Her belly opened up to disgorge troops onto the shore. Dozens of humanoid figures dropped onto the beach, armed with a rifle, a belt full of grenades and encased in some kind of metal armor. It looked scary, especially with the helmets that hid their faces. They moved with incredible grace and speed to secure the beach. Even as squads broke off and moved into the town.
The technician pulled away from the overlook. This wasn’t good at all. Behind her a door burst open, “There you are, hurry!”
She frowned, and turned to follow the gesturing man, “Hurry where?”
“All non combat personnel have been ordered to the shelters.”
The girl followed yet she still couldn’t figure out what was going on. Running down the corridor, she soon heard a news broadcast playing and stopped to peek into a room, where a terminal had been left on. The interstellar news channel was still on, an urgent report banner in bright purple was emblazoned across the screen, “New Valoria under attack! Where is the Third Fleet?”
A somewhat harried reporter was speaking, “A Menace battleship is currently parked in geostationary orbit over the local community of Golden Sands...”
The girl shook her head, “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Turning from the harried report, she realized she’d been left behind. Letting out a breath, she went down the corridor, even as the building shook. Then she jumped in her skin as she heard weapons fire.
Seeing another window, she approached and looked out. She spotted a dozen security troops and a squad of alien infantry engaged in a firefight, but it didn’t take long to notice who was winning. The aliens had a clear advantage as they methodically dispatched the soldiers. Not even cover helped the security troops, as she watched one man get skewered by a blue beam that punched right through the pillar he was using for cover.
“Sniper! Take cover,” shouted someone, only to be hit by the same particle beam a second later. This time the poor soldier was caught in the face, not that he had much of a face left after that. She gasped at the horrible sight, then ducked inside as a stream of blue bolts tore into the window. Her gaze turned to the far wall and she wisely decided it best to get away from the windows. That nearly killed her.
The tech kept to the halls, even as she heard more weapons fire and even explosions. It seemed a lot was going on out there.
Suddenly a door blew open in a shower of flames, just before a pair of armored figures burst into the hall. The tech gasped in surprise and raised her hands. The wrench she’d been holding clattering to the floor. A figure turned to her rifle in hand, looked her over, and then closed the distance.
She barely registered them moving before she found herself restrained, a pair of cuffs slipping onto her wrists as they were shifted behind her. Then in perfect Valorian, the figure spoke, “This way, don’t resist and we’ll be gone before you know it.”
“What the fuck is going on? Why are you doing this?” she asked, but followed along.
“Blame your leaders, now I presume you are a tech, yes?”
She nodded.
“Good, you can help us transfer some deuterium.”
Deuterium? This was about fuel? What the fuck was the world coming to?